Spain issues arrest warrant for ousted Catalan leader, aides

1of 2Demonstrators with banners reading "freedom for the political prisoners" protest the decision of a judge to jail ex-members of the Catalan government.﻿Photo: Manu Fernandez, STR

2of 2Former Catalonia's regional chief for business Santi Vila talks to journalists as he leaves the Estremera prison in Madrid, Friday, Nov. 3, 2017. The Spanish government declines to comment on the jailing of former Catalan cabinet members in an investigation related to their push for secession, and says that it respects and obeys decisions taken by the judges. (AP Photo)Photo: AP Photo, STR

MADRID - A Spanish judge issued an international arrest warrant Friday for former members of the Catalan Cabinet who were last seen in Brussels, including the ousted separatist leader Carles Puigdemont, who said he was prepared to run for his former job even while battling extradition in Belgium.

The National Court judge filed the request with the Belgian prosecutor to detain Puigdemont and his four aides, and issued separate international search and arrest warrants to alert Interpol in case they flee Belgium.

Puigdemont's Belgian lawyer has said his client will fight extradition to Spain. The five are being sought for five different crimes, including rebellion, sedition and embezzlement in a Spanish investigation into their roles in pushing for secession for Catalonia.

The officials flew to Brussels after Spanish authorities removed Puigdemont and his Cabinet from office Saturday for declaring independence for Catalonia. The Spanish government has also called an early regional election for Dec. 21.

Puigdemont told a Belgian state broadcaster that he was in Belgium "ready to be a candidate" in the early polls and because he had lost faith in the Spanish justice system.

"We can run a campaign anywhere because we're in a globalized world," he told RTBF, adding he was not in Belgium to "Belgianize Catalan politics."

If Belgium acts on the international warrant issued by Spain and arrests him, Puigdemont would have to be brought before an investigating judge within 24 hours. His extradition procedure would take 15 days, Belgian legal experts say. But should Puigdemont appeal, that process could take a further 45 days, meaning he would probably not leave Belgium before early January.

In her decision Friday, Judge Carmen Lamela said Puigdemont "apparently is in Belgium" and accused him of "leading the mobilization of the pro-independence sectors of the population to act in support of the illegal referendum and thus the secession process outside the legal channels to reform the constitution."